Business Outlaws

Business Outlaws

BigMike

BigMike Straumietis is the founder and CEO of Advanced Nutrients, the No. 1 cannabis nutrient company in the world, with annual revenues of more than $100 million and distribution in 100 countries and counting. A cannabis grower and entrepreneur since 1983, BigMike’s latest ventures include his namesake line of cannabis pre-rolls BigMike’s Blends, and Lacturnus Labs, a $20- million-plus cannabis research facility located in Los Angeles.

BigMike

BigMike Straumietis is the founder and CEO of Advanced Nutrients, the No. 1 cannabis nutrient company in the world, with annual revenues of more than $100 million and distribution in 100 countries and counting. A cannabis grower and entrepreneur since 1983, BigMike’s latest ventures include his namesake line of cannabis pre-rolls BigMike’s Blends, and Lacturnus Labs, a $20- million-plus cannabis research facility located in Los Angeles.

Chris Collins

Chris is a business trainer and coach who specializes in maximizing business performance and helping companies find new streams of revenue. He’s helped countless companies streamline operations, reduce overhead, and increase the bottom line by millions of dollars. Chris is the author of three books, including the Amazon bestseller Gamification: Playing for Profits and the upcoming 101 Ways You Can Get Crazy Results In Your Business Right Now.

Chris Collins

Chris is a business trainer and coach who specializes in maximizing business performance and helping companies find new streams of revenue. He’s helped countless companies streamline operations, reduce overhead, and increase the bottom line by millions of dollars. Chris is the author of three books, including the Amazon bestseller Gamification: Playing for Profits and the upcoming 101 Ways You Can Get Crazy Results In Your Business Right Now.

Learn the insider secrets, strategies and systems used by the world’s top entrepreneurs to supercharge their success and generate millions of dollars in revenue!

Welcome to Business Outlaws, the show for entrepreneurs who want to dominate their respective industries and build their empires. Each week, you’ll join the Outlaws — BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins — as they share valuable, business-building, wealth-accumulating secrets and insights learned through decades of in-the-trenches experience. No hokum, no filters, no BS — just proven, unadulterated tactics to help you achieve the massive success you crave.

Learn the real path to freedom and becoming a millionaire from the real business outlaws. Try it now for free for 30 days.

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What They're Saying

"I love this! I can't wait to hear more podcasts!"

- a1.teena

Excited to hear business topics from a different perspective. I've read all the Chris Collins books and his way of thinking is unique and challenging. It's about time someone who isn't stuffy starts talking real!

- PatriciaDanielle11

Big Mike is so knowledgeable, I'm excited to hear what he has to say.

- Hamalamatime

LATEST SHOWSWe created The Business Outlaws podcast to teach millennials the unfiltered truth about the mindset and tools you’ll need to become a millionaire. We’re already hearing from entrepreneurs all over the world who are using what they’ve learned from the podcast to be more effective–and make more money.New episodes every week–listen join the outlaws for exclusive content!

What business advice would you give your 24-year-old self if you could go back in time?

“Invest in yourself,” declares BigMike on this episode of Business Outlaws alongside Chris “Bulldog” Collins.

The Outlaws agree — you’re going to fail if you rely on investors to fund your business ventures. It’s not uncommon for folks that are young or new to business to rely on others for success instead of themselves. “The first thing you need to do,” advises BigMike, “is believe in yourself and sell yourself.” Only then can you begin to build your brand.

When he first started growing weed, BigMike didn’t have money, didn’t look for it, and says he didn’t need it. Instead, he relied on himself and the strength of his product. Most people are looking for a lottery ticket to get their business off the ground, but skills and capital will come later. You need to have the mindset of Cortés: Burn the ships, no retreat.

Meanwhile, Chris takes us back to his early days, when he sold his car and asked his mom for a loan to get his businesses off the ground. “I didn’t know what I needed to know,” he recalls. Investing in yourself, full-tilt, is the only way. You need to be prepared to burn everything to make it. “If you aren’t willing to do that, you probably aren’t going to be successful,” adds BigMike.

Learn more about what you don’t know about business by checking BusinessOutlaws.com. Invest in yourself by following @BusinessOutlaws so you’re never again swayed by the empty promises of investment “sugar daddies.”

Reading business news can get boring…but not if a sultry sex operator named is reading the headlines to you instead. That’s exactly why we brought on my new friend and phone sex operator Diamond to my radio show the Business Whisperer.

From time to time, we give Diamond a call and she takes us through the top business headlines of the day. Diamond’s prices keep going up but it’s worth it…it is my fetish, after all.

Here are the headlines she read on last week’s episode, all from top news stories:

But you don’t have to take it from me…you can find out what a difference it makes to hear the news dirty style right here. Full episodes of the Business Whisperer are here, too–you might just get lucky and hear an episode with Diamond on it.

If you want access to more business advice, check out the full episode of the Business Whisperer episode that this came from on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or right here.

So…you have a business you’re proud of. You have the right talent with the right skills to draw in your target demographic. And you’ve got an untapped market RIGHT under your nose…but you just can’t seem to get them in the door, even though you know they’d be hooked if you did.

What do you do now?

Let’s say your business is a kickboxing, boxing, and general fitness gym. It’s less than 5 miles away from the largest medical center in the world–the perfect target audience. And you’re marketing to them left and right, but they just aren’t coming in.

That’s what’s going on in for Leonard, a Houston-based entrepreneur who’s ready to expand the reach of his kickboxing gym. They have a boxing champ in the house–40 years of experience and 10 championships under his belt. And right now, their demographic breakdown is 95% women and their kids program is thriving, but they’re looking to broaden to attract a wider variety of clientele.

So what have they been trying that hasn’t worked?

Right now, their highest price point is $170 a month for an unlimited package, followed by $120 a month for 3 days a week of classes. They offer personal training, but it only accounts for about 10% of their revenue. They do lots of contests with their clients–Biggest Loser style, most of the time–where they give away personal training or once, Beyonce tickets, to the person who enters and loses the most weight. Their price point is affordable and they have the talent and interesting weight loss incentives, but they only have about 52 members right now. Their goal is to get to 110 by May.

Here’s what they gotta do:

Go for Groupon

Leonard says he’s tried Groupon before, offering 75% off a monthly membership, but only 3 or so members have come in as a result. The thing is…he’s doing it wrong. This is what he’s going to do next time: He’s going to promote the unique elements of his gym on Groupon and then once he gets people in the door, he’s going to make sure they stay and bring other people in the door too. It’s passive advertising that you don’t want to miss out on.

Turn Customers into Advertisers

Every month, Leonard is going to start a new contest, and the winner gets their money back–all of it. To enter, they have to be enrolled in unlimited classes and share their updates on Facebook, so other people are seeing it. That way, they’re not only super engaged themselves…they’re also engaging the people in their networks. Then, do a refer-a-friend deal, where both the person referring and the new member get deals when a current member refers. I’d go so far as to say that those people should get a month free on either end if the friend actually signs up.

Try Co-Branded Events

If this guy’s saying 95% of his audience is women…where is he marketing? He has to partner with Nordstrom or Saks…places where lots of women shop…and do a co-branded event. Nothing major, just call the general manager of the Nordstrom and tell him, “I have a list of clients I want to give you and I want to do some sort of cross branding thing. I’m going to use you on my advertising and on my fliers.” And maybe what you’d give away in the contest would be a makeover at Nordstrom–$500 worth of clothes, because they’re going to fit into new clothes once they lose those inches. Go beyond retail too…think about where your target audience eats, goes out, hangs around, and co-brand with them. You should be getting back 25% of the referrals that come in through you.

If Leonard does these things and does them right, I can guarantee that he’ll get to at least 110 by May. Let’s see what you got Leonard! If you have a similar business, try these things out and let me know how hard you crush it.

If you want access to more business advice, check out the full episode of the Business Whisperer episode that this came from on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or right here.

How would a former marine go about developing a successful jewelry line?

Those two things don’t appear to line up at face value, but they absolutely can and do. Greg called in to the Business Whisperer podcast from Bangkok to talk about his businesses. First, he’s got a jewelry manufacturing business for other people’s brands. They design it and place the order, he makes it in his factory, they sell it.

The second brand is all his. It’s a jewelry company called The Jewelry Republic that he actually designs and then manufactures, then sells himself. The part that makes this really unique is that he wants it to align with his military past–selling sentimental pieces to military wives and the like. His target audience is people who see value in the military brand and are interested in commemorating their attachment to it with jewelry. Pretty niche, but could get big.

But when you head to the company’s website, there’s literally nothing that ties it to the military. No imagery, no copy, no related design. So it was no surprise to me that it wasn’t translating. If you’re going to go for a super niche market, you need to make sure the connection between your branding and marketing and that audience is really strong.

The best way to do that is to take his jewelry design in the military direction, integrating elements like dog tags and bullet casings into his pieces. Niche markets want niche goods, not basic and somewhat irrelevant goods that are just marketed toward them. Trying to sell basic jewelry in the already crowded market just isn’t going to work. You can’t sell jewelry that looks like it could be on Amazon to a target market of military wives–they’ll just buy it on Amazon too cause it’s quicker and cheaper.

If you’re working with a product right now and have a specific audience in mind, really think about why the hell they would choose your brand over a cheaper option. What is your angle that sets your stuff apart from the rest? If you’re a jewelry designer for military wives, the military connection is your unique angle. Make sense?

The other option is the social way of doing it where you get military wives to sell your jewelry at parties. If your jewelry doesn’t scream military, it’s not gonna go viral and you’re gonna spend a lot of money on advertising just to compete in a crowded market. But if you find military wives to rep it and give them 20% or 25%, like Avon does for example, that would be another potential option without changing up the design too much.

The bottom line is…if you have a super niche target market and that’s critical to your business model, tie everything back to that. I know a lot of guys who have lost a lot of money in jewelry because it’s such a crowded market. Don’t be one of those guys.

If you want access to more business advice, check out the full episode of the Business Whisperer episode that this came from on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or right here.

How do you BUILD a market for a product that people don’t even know they need until they try it? I recently advised a guy named Canuto who is trying to get beard care products on the market in Chile–a place where men haven’t typically cared about beard care like we do here in the United States. He’s selling beard oils, beard wash, and mustache wax–very niche products.

The first thing to consider is how you’re selling. This guy was targeting hair salons, barbershops, tattoo parlors, motorcycle garages…all the niche spots where you could imagine someone might care about beard care. They were selling online, but very minimally. We’re talking 15 million pesos in salons and brick-and-mortar stores annually as compared to 670 pesos online. Big difference.

When I asked who’s out there in the stores doing the selling every day, I found out it was Canuto himself–the CEO. They’re in 28 stores, which means that he can only hit each one up about once a month in order to keep up with everything else too. When you’re selling AND running the business, you’re gonna get stuck at a certain level. The only way to get out of it is by hiring a sales rep. Hire someone talented and put them on commission. Get them to visit each of your existing points of sale monthly, checking in and re-stocking, and then give them a goal for the number of stores you want to be in by the end of the year. Say it’s 100–give them that number and tell them to GO. If they get to a point where they’re at capacity–say that’s when they hit 50 stores–hire another sales rep to do the same thing. Give them a goal and set them out to manage existing contracts and get new stores on board.

At the same time, you have to think about online sales. When it comes to online business, the secret is continuity. Take the Dollar Shave Club’s model is an example. Their whole thing is continuity and those guys are printing money. I hung out with those guys a couple times and we talked about how critical continuity is for them. In Canuto’s case, it’d be a subscription model. Someone orders beard oil and they’re automatically signed up to get another round in 30 days. They don’t have to come back and order more–they just get it.

At a certain point, the CEO needs to be the big picture thinker–the one who is creating new scents and products and coming up with ways to expand your line to include things like Vitamin E supplements that will appeal to your ever-expanding market. If you’re in the weeds selling every day, you’re never gonna get past a certain level. It just is what it is.

If you want access to more business advice, check out the full episode of the Business Whisperer episode that this came from on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or right here.

Here’s the thing: When you’re an entrepreneur with a big heart, you gotta be discerning or you’re gonna get screwed.

Take Clinton for example. He’s got a couple of businesses–dog training is the primary business, plus dog daycare and boarding. On top of that, his company trains service dogs for people in the community free of cost. He’s a good dude…wants to believe the best in people and focus on the good work he’s doing. Not bad qualities at all…but ones that can lead to disaster in business if you aren’t careful–tricky for an entrepreneur.

On top of that, his training business has slowed to almost a halt–and he has no idea why. The daycare element is keeping them afloat–which is why it’s critical that every business has multiple revenue streams whenever possible.

He has a lot of roadblocks. He bought a tub to give the dogs baths while they board as an upsell, but can’t do grooming cause he can’t find a solid groomer. He’s at the higher end of the daily rates for boarding in his market. The list goes on…

But the REAL problem is that this guy is a kind-hearted people-pleaser. He doesn’t set rates and sticks to them…he says “Hmm…give me $10 for this dog cause it’s small.” He doesn’t go out and sell his services far and wide cause he doesn’t want to get in people’s faces. He’s never going to be successful in his business this way.

He has to have boundaries that show that you’re worth your love and care. You gotta put a value on your work and have limits and then be proud of those limits. You can’t be everything to everybody and if people can’t pay, then you can’t get attached. You have to create a system in your mind where you break it off and say no…that you’re worth more than that, and that’s all there is to it.

Instead of expanding your business to try to make revenue through other sources, focus on growing the dog training and boarding side of things. Learn how to market your business and how to charge for it. How many dogs can you handle a day? How much will you charge for each dog? What are the upsells that a pet owner, who loves their dog like a child, can tack on? Is it food? Grooming? Flea medication? Think all of those things through and set pricing for them–non-negotiable pricing.

Come up with a plan for four strings of income and create pricing strategy for each. Then, determine how you’re going to market–how are you going to run ads and get people in for the boarding and the day care? If traditional online advertising doesn’t seem to be working, try other outlets like hospital newsletters, flyers, Groupon. Give people a week for free to try it out and then keep them off and upsell them as much as possible. The hardest part is getting people in the door. Once they see what you have to offer–the above and beyond care–they’ll be sticking around and the ad or Groupon investment will be well worth it.

Once this business is thriving, then you can do other things, like training service animals, on the side to help people for free. Think of yourself like Robin Hood–taking money from rich pet owners and using it to fund things that are really important.

If you want access to more business advice, check out the full episode of the Business Whisperer episode that this came from on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or right here.